First came the whirr of the helicopter. Then the sponsors' vehicles and attendant promotional staff: the blaring Coca-Cola bus, a huge Samsung billboard-on-wheels featuring David Beckham, and a vintage Lloyds TSB-branded coach.

Completing the convoy were four specially adapted coaches to carry runners and torches, police outriders, a media vehicle, Range Rovers with blacked-out windows and a few official BMW cars. And somewhere in the middle, a lone torchbearer carrying the Olympic flame.

As the torch relay wound its way through Devon, the scale of the operation required to keep the show on the road for 70 days became clear.

About 350 people are accompanying the torch on its 8,000-mile route around the UK and Ireland, criss-crossing the territory in a carefully choreographed road closure operation that will pass within 10 miles of 95% of the UK's population.

After a marathon opening day that began at 6am at Land's End in Cornwall and ended at nearly 9pm in Plymouth, there were already some tired eyes when Jordan Anderton, 18, set off from the city's recently opened Life Centre, a gleaming swimming and diving complex.

Anderton was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at 14 and has since raised thousands of pounds for charity. "It's a great honour, I'm so excited to be the first person from Plymouth – particularly with the number of people here," he said.

Crowds thronged the streets wherever the torch went but it was greeted in marginally more understated fashion than on its tumultuously received debut in Cornwall on Saturday, where police said the population had doubled for the day and business leaders estimated a £1.1m boost to the economy.

The atmosphere of goodwill propelling the torch remained very much intact as it travelled from Plymouth to Exeter, via landmarks including Torre Abbey. Straining to see Barrie Goodfellow carrying the torch, accompanied by his guide dog, in front of the Royal Castle hotel in Dartmouth harbour, Edie Ward said she had "enjoyed every minute" of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Her daughter, Pat Hughes, said the relay would help catalyse support for the Games, the staging of which is costing the taxpayer £9.3bn. "In the beginning, we were a bit nervous about the cost but now it's here I just think it's wonderful. Everyone's so down about the recession, I think it's something to look forward to."

A glimpse of the ruthless efficiency of the torch operation was in evidence before the arrival of the phalanx of Metropolitan police officers who ferried the flame to the Life Centre to light the first torch of the day. Before they did so, Locog officials in grey uniforms swiped leaflets advertising an "Olympic breakfast" and "flaming torch bacon and egg baguette" from the centre's cafe, on the grounds they contravened branding guidelines.

The three sponsors that have signed deals with organisers to be "presenting partners" risk criticism from those who believe the Games have become too commercial, but said they had taken care to ensure their contribution was carefully weighted. Each has about 50 staff travelling with the torch for the duration.

Gordon Lott, head of group sponsorship and Olympic marketing at Lloyds, said its involvement had become a means of trying to repair some of the grievous damage inflicted on banking's reputation by the financial crisis and to emphasise its community work. "We are helping Locog [the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games] deliver its vision of this being a UK Games, not just a London Games. The relay is the glue that binds all that together," he said.

James Williams, director of the torch relay for Coca-Cola, said that by putting on evening concerts it could help the organisers reach a younger audience. The musician Labrinth, who performed at the first evening celebration in Plymouth on Saturday to 35,000 people, said the relay would help reach those who were not sports fans. "I'm not a sports guru, but it brings the energy to a person like me who doesn't know much about it and helps get them involved. It pulls the country together rather than it just being London holding a big event."

Labrinth, from Hackney, said it was important that Games organisers kept their legacy promises. "Plan B was protesting about it on his latest record, saying that they haven't spent much time on the neighbourhood around it. As long as they are involved in the event and not exempted from it, I'm kind of happy because it might bring new energy to the area. But if not, then there is definitely a reason to protest."

Organisers were forced to admit they had missed their original pledge of ensuring more than half of all torchbearers were under 25. The promise was meant to underline the commitment to youth that has been a key selling point of London's vision for the Games. But the

Locog's chief executive, Paul Deighton, said the average age had crept up as a result of the volume of inspirational entries from older nominees. "The largest percentage of runners, by age range, is the under-25s," a Locog spokeswoman said. "We chose the runners based on the merit of their stories, and we had incredible stories from nominees of all age ranges and generations, and so torchbearers were selected on the strength of their personal stories rather than just fixed percentages."